Greenwich, Conn. - January 28, 2008: After an illustrious half century career in direct marketing, Florence Leighton, a true pioneer of international direct marketing, has retired from Direct Media Inc.

Florence was a founding member of the Direct Marketing International Council and the Women’s Direct Response group, as well as an original member of the Federation of European Direct Marketing (FEDMA) and was a member and participant in the DMA and Direct Marketing Club of NY for over 35 years.  She was presented with the DMA International Council’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.

While Florence has been recognized as the leading expert in centralized multilingual and global direct marketing, it is her generosity with guidance, information and private tutorials that rank her as one of the industry’s great teachers on international marketing

Dave Florence, DMI’s Founder and Chairman states, “It has been a pleasure, privilege and joy to work and be associated with Florence. She personally pioneered International Direct Marketing in the United States and has left a mark that will be with us forever.”

Leighton joined Direct Media in 1993 to help develop their international direct marketing division. She began her career specializing in domestic lists and compilation and moved into the international arena in 1958 when she helped found Dillon, Agnew & Marton, a pioneer international direct marketing agency for U.S. service companies and publishers looking to expand globally. 

Moving to Amsterdam in 1959, as the European Sales and Marketing Director of Dillon, Agnew & Marton, she created and produced direct mail and collateral material in as many languages as her clients demanded from French to Farsi – and distributed it via direct mail.   During her tenure in Amsterdam, Florence helped create and execute worldwide programs for companies such as Eastman Kodak, Hewlett Packard, 3M, Time Inc. and McGraw-Hill Publishing Company. 

Returning to the U.S. in 1967, Florence assumed responsibility for DA&M’s worldwide marketing programs from the U.S. and over the next 40 years developed full service global marketing programs for large multinational companies, including The New York State Department of Economic Development, Citibank, BankAmerica, AT&T, and United Airlines.  Her work included the development of international circulation for almost all the leading multinational publications launched over the past 50 years, including Business Week, Forbes Global, Fortune, Harvard Business Review, Scientific American and Time.